Swiss Teams Race to ID New Year’s Fire Victims Amid Agonizing Wait
CRANS-MONTANA: Probe teams hurried Friday to name victims of a devastating New Year’s blaze at Le Constellation bar in this Swiss Alps resort, transforming celebrations into Switzerland’s deadliest tragedy—killing about 40 and seriously injuring 115.
The spark remains unknown; police foresee days or weeks for IDs, tormenting loved ones.
“We’ve scoured social media with photos of friends—no replies, not even from parents,” said 17-year-old Eleonore.
The bar held 300 inside plus 40 on the terrace. Missing numbers stay vague.
President Guy Parmelin, newly sworn in, labeled it a “terrifying calamity,” ordering five days of half-mast flags. “We’re updating families and embassies in real-time amid international casualties,” he said.
Prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud pledged massive resources to speed body returns.
Chaos and Eyewitness Horror
The 1:30 a.m. Thursday inferno panicked crowds; some shattered windows, others fled burned. “It was war—the apocalypse,” said local Mathys.
Witnesses blamed sparklers on champagne bottles in a staff “show”—flames leaped to the ceiling, per Axel via Italian media. No attack suspected; investigators check safety compliance and exits.
Corsican French owners—a couple—are safe but unreachable, sources said.
Global Toll and Aid
Injured overflowed local hospitals, airlifted across Switzerland and abroad. EU offered medical help; French hospitals treat some. Italy reported 15 hurt, 15 missing; France counted 9 injured, 8 unaccounted.
Flowers, candles, and tape cordoned the site under police screens.
